Virginia Woolf died 83 years ago today, on March 28, 1941. Lots has been written about her life — and her death. But today I want to suggest that we remember her by reading her work.
The Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain is doing just that by organizing a new Woolf and Bloomsbury reading group for members only, which gives us one more reason to join that esteemed society.
The group will read the works of Virginia Woolf and some of her Bloomsbury contemporaries and friends to find connections, influences and similarities between them.
The meetings will be a mixture of face-to-face and online discussions, with the kick-off meeting to take place online on April 6.
The May meeting will be the first reading group, which will focus on a discussion of The Voyage Out.
You can be a part of it by joining the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain, starting at £25 (£10 students).
Read Woolf on your own
You can also vow to read Woolf on your own. Take a look at two ways to do this in this recent post on Blogging Woolf.
The Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain will hold its Annual Birthday Lecture 2024 at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 27. Dr. Gerri Kimber will give the lecture, “Endgame: The Untidy Deaths of Katherine Mansfield and Virginia Woolf.”
Who: Kimber is a visiting professor in the Department of English at the University of Northampton and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, as well as former chair of the International Katherine Mansfield Society. She is currently writing a biography of Mansfield.
What: The lecture will be followed by a birthday cake and wine reception. Attendees will receive a printed copy of the lecture.
Where: The lecture will be given in Lecture Theatre MAL 532 on the fifth floor of Birkbeck, University of London, Torrington Square, Bloomsbury, London, WC1E 7JL.
Cost: £30 for members of the Society and £35 for non-members; priority booking for members runs from the date of this email to the end of October.
If you are a member of the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain, you are invited to a FREE members only online Christmas celebration that includes an evening of readings about Christmas and winter from Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury group.
“A Virginia Woolf Christmas – Monks House Welcome Home” design by renowned collage artist Amanda White
What: An evening of five-minute readings by society members that will focus on writings by Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury group that discuss Christmas and or winter. When: Wednesday, Dec. 6, 5.30 p.m. GMT How: On Zoom. Members will receive a Zoom link, meeting ID and passcode.
Join the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain
To join the society and have access to the Dec. 6 Zoom event, visit the group’s membership page. Members receive:
FREE Virginia Woolf Bulletin three times a year, containing articles, reviews and previously unpublished material by Woolf herself (normally £7 each)
Discount and priority notice for Birthday Lecture: this is an annual talk by a Woolf scholar or author, held on the Saturday nearest to 25 January
FREE regular email updates, with information and news of upcoming Woolf events
Discount and priority notice for VWSGB events, e.g. day conferences; study weekends, talks, visits; guided walks in an area connected with Woolf
Member-only online talks: live talks accessed by web link (small additional charge)
FREE online group events: networking events and readings for members only.
I don’t have many positive things to say about the pandemic, but I am glad of one thing. It increased the number of online programs offered by the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain. And they make membership in the society even more worthwhile, no matter which side of the pond you are on.
The Bloomsbury Ballerina
The most recent online program was “Lydia Lopokova and Bloomsbury,” a March 16 conversation between author Susan Sellers and Virginia Woolf scholar Maggie Humm about the fascinating Russian dancer Lydia Lopokova and her complicated relationship with Bloomsbury.
Sellers, who wrote the novel Vanessa and Her Sister (2014) has a new novel coming out. Titled Firebird: A Bloomsbury Love Story, it tells the surprising story of two of Bloomsbury’s most unlikely lovers – John Maynard Keynes, the distinguished economist, and the extrovert Russian dancer Lydia Lopokova. Weaving biography and fiction, Firebird explores the tangle of Bloomsbury’s bohemian relationships as lifestyles are challenged and allegiances shift following Lydia’s explosive arrival.
Humm’s many publications on Bloomsbury include her acclaimed novel Talland House (2020), inspired by Woolf’s To the Lighthouse.
I missed the March 16 conversation, but because I am a member of the society, I can access it online as a YouTube video, via a link sent to members only.
Join up
Membership to the society for UK residents is £20, or £10 for full-time students. There are also memberships for those of us outside the UK. It is well worth it. Membership includes the following:
FREE Virginia Woolf Bulletin three times a year, containing articles, reviews and previously unpublished material by Woolf herself (normally £5 each)
Discount on Birthday Lecture: annual talk by a Woolf scholar or author, held on the Saturday nearest to 25 January
FREE Regular email updates, with information and news of upcoming Woolf events
Discount on member events: e.g. day conferences; study weekends, talks, visits; guided walks in an area connected with Woolf
FREE online talks and events: live and recorded events accessed by web link (members only)
With women’s employment taking a huge hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the VWSGB is asking us to share a photograph of a room of our own — if we are lucky enough to have one.
Women, work, and the pandemic
The pandemic has affected women’s work lives in drastic ways. The BBC is calling it a “shecession” and cites these facts:
Globally, women’s job losses due to Covid-19 are 1.8 times greater than men’s.
In the U.S., unemployment has intensified the most for those employed in personal care and food service jobs, where women predominate.
One in four women surveyed said they were thinking about reducing or leaving paid work due to the pandemic.
Those disproportionately affected in the U.S. include black women and Latinas.
Some subgroups are squeezed even more, like mothers of young children and mothers without partners or relatives.
In addition, recent projections estimate that employment for women may not recover to pre-pandemic levels until 2024—two full years after a recovery for men, according to Fortune.
The pertinence of A Room of One’s Own
So the British society has turned its attention to Virginia Woolf’s eternally pertinent feminist manifesto, A Room of One’s Own, a text the society writes, “Now more than ever . . . is acutely relevant given that women’s work is being so squeezed and undervalued, and space is at a premium in family homes and elsewhere during life under lockdown, with working and schooling taking place in the home.”
Share your room of your own or your thoughts about the essay
So here’s the charge: Share photos of your own Room of One’s Own, if you are lucky enough to have one, or your reflections on Woolf’s essay A Room of One’s Own and what it means to you. The society will share contributions on its social media pages.
And on March 8, check the VWSGB social media accounts:
